Not Just Dessert
by sgafan33
Summary: Rodney and Carson have dinner in Atlantis.


**Title:** Not Just Dessert

**Author:** sgafan33

**Characters:** Carson Beckett, Rodney McKay.

**Spoilers**: Takes place after episode 02x02, "Intruder".

**Rating**: G

**Summary**: Rodney and Carson have dinner in Atlantis.

**Beta**: Thanks to smr723 for her review. All errors still remain mine.

**Disclaimer**: 'Stargate Atlantis' and the related characters belong to MGM, Sci Fi, and Gekko Productions. I am making no money from this entertainment and can't imagine how I could.

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**Not Just Dessert**

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"Ready for dinner, Carson?"

Rodney's head popped around the edge of the doorway to the doctor's office in the infirmary.

Carson glanced at the time display on his computer screen.

"Rodney, it's no where near suppertime. The food won't be out yet."

"Of course it'll be out. The assigned dinnertime is just the guaranteed time the food will be ready. Most of the time the mess staff has the food ready well before then. All the cold stuff will be laid out. Salads, cold side dishes, desserts. Maybe _chocolate_ dessert. I told you when we got off the _Daedalus_ this afternoon we needed to get to dinner early today. It's the first day with the ship here and I know everybody else will be there early to see what goodies the _Daedalus_ brought in the way of food. Never mind that a lot of the crew will be in the mess just to get off their ship. Come on, Carson, I don't want them to run out of dessert before I get there."

"All right, all right, then, give me a minute to shut things down. I was in the middle of something."

Carson paused the analysis he was running and locked down the computer. From the corner of his eye, he could see Rodney shifting from foot to foot in the doorway. Was that man ever still? At least Rodney didn't have his arms crossed, so he wasn't annoyed with Carson. Yet. Standing, he took off his lab coat and draped it across the back of his chair.

"Okay, let's go then."

Walking into mess hall, Carson had to admit that Rodney had been right. Even at the earlier time, there were more people than he'd expected already there. Carson gave a brief smile and a nod to several people as they waved a "Welcome back, Dr. Beckett." But Rodney ignored everyone as he made a beeline to the food counters.

Rodney picked up a tray and started perusing the selections as he waited for Carson to make his way over.

"Evening, Dr. McKay. Welcome back. How's Earth?'

"Hello, Corporal. Thanks. Earth's still there, so that's something. What's for dinner?"

The corporal didn't bother to hide his smile as he answered the physicist's question. "Well, we had to spend the afternoon offloading and inventorying the supplies from the _Daedalus_, so nothing fancy tonight. That'll be later in the week. Dr. Weir said we should have a little celebration meal since we're now back in contact with Earth, so we'll do up something special. Tonight there's baked chicken, or you can get a nice bowl of beef stew. It's real beef in the stew, not the mystery meat of the week we've been having." The corporal's grin grew larger. "And the biscuits are made with real, nutritionally deficient, white flour from Earth."

"Corporal, the flour's been enriched, so it's not all that bad," Carson said with a smile. He had arrived at Rodney's side as the corporal was going over the evening's selections. "There's nothing like a good, white flour biscuit for dipping in your stew."

"Good evening, Dr. Beckett. Welcome back. Would you be having the stew tonight, then?"

"Aye, I think so, lad. Smells delicious."

Rodney made up his mind. "I think I'll go for the baked chicken this time. With a nutritionally deficient biscuit." Rodney looked down the counter. "What's up for dessert?"

"Well, like I said, we went simple tonight. So we have a couple of flavors of Jello. A lot people here were saying they missed Earth fruit. So there's an apple cobbler that was easy enough to bake. No lemon in our version. We got in some cases of frozen fruit so we thawed out some boxes to make up a fruit medley, but there's oranges in that, so that's not for you, Dr. McKay." The corporal reached under the counter and brought up a small bowl. "But we do have this for you."

Rodney peered into the bowl and looked up with a wide grin. "Chocolate pudding! Thank you, corporal!"

"No, thank _you_, Dr. McKay. I understand you insisted that grills and smokers were essential kitchen items and leaned on Supply to let us have them this trip when they thought we were doing fine without them."

"Of course grills and smokers are essential. Why should we have to jury rig a Pegasus version when we can have the _Daedalus_ bring us real ones? Why the Ancients didn't use grills is beyond me. If we have to start eating mystery meat again, I'm sure it would taste much better if we had a proper grill and smoker to prepare it instead of just frying it up. I just emphasized that it would be good for morale to have decent food. Increased productivity and all that. The military are such idiots at times. No offense, corporal."

"None taken, sir. Thank you for taking such a keen interest in the kitchen. Dr. Beckett, we have a bowl of pudding for you, too, if you want it."

"That would be lovely, Corporal. Thank you."

"Let me get the rest of your food, sirs. Looks like my little lull is over, there's a line starting to form behind you. Good thing you beat the rush."

After getting the rest of their meal, the two men looked for a place to sit. Instead of one of the communal tables, Rodney led Carson to a two person table off to the side. They still had a good view of the comings and goings of the rest of the room, but it was a little more private. Carson suspected this evening Rodney wanted to savor his food with a minimal amount of distraction.

Even though Rodney always did most of the talking, he still finished his meal before Carson. As usual, the physicist started immediately on his dessert, not waiting for his companion. A spoon was quickly dipped into the bowl of pudding and made its way rapidly to Rodney's mouth.

Carson made to continue his side of the conversation when the actions of the man seated across from him stunned him into silence.

As Rodney's lips closed around the spoon, his eyes grew large with surprise, then they gently closed. A blissful look made its way across Rodney's face as the spoon slipped out from between his lips and his head tilted back slightly. Carson watched in fascination as Rodney's jaw worked slowly from side to side as his agile tongue rolled the dessert in his mouth. The scientist's jaw then stilled for a moment before he swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing as the spoonful made its way down his throat. A pink tongue peeked out and swiped across his lips, gathering any residue before quickly withdrawing. A small hum of pleasure resonated in Rodney's throat.

Carson, realizing his mouth was hanging open, closed his jaws with a snap. "Rodney, what are you doing, man?"

Rodney's eyes popped open. "Carson, taste your pudding!"

There was still a bit of stew left in his bowl that Carson wanted to finish before he tackled his dessert, but one look at Rodney's excited face made the doctor move the stew aside and bring the bowl of pudding to the front. He dipped his spoon into the soft brown mass and scooped out a small portion. As he brought the spoon to his lips, the aroma wafted up and he realized what had gotten Rodney in such a happy state. But Carson waited until he ate the spoonful before commenting.

"Ah, I see. It's not just chocolate, then, is it? It's..."

"It's mocha! Isn't it great? Chocolate _and_ coffee!" Rodney was practically bouncing in his chair with delight.

Carson gave his dinner companion a puzzled look.

"Rodney, did you or did you not eat something chocolate at every lunch and dinner while we were on Earth? And most of the time you had something chocolate at breakfast. Chocolate chip muffins, chocolate chip pancakes. One day you even dumped some hot cocoa mix into your oatmeal. You at least had a glass of chocolate milk, if nothing else. And you had a cup of coffee practically welded to your hand the whole time we were there."

"Well, yes, I guess I did have quite a bit of chocolate. And coffee, too." Rodney's lips quirked up slightly as he gave a small crooked grin of embarrassment.

"Then what makes this so much better than what you had on Earth?"

Rodney tilted his head slightly as he gave the question serious thought. His eyes took on a far away look. There was a pause as the scientist searched for the precise words.

"Um, that was food you eat on a business trip, Carson. This, this is home cooking."

Rodney refocused his eyes on the physician seated across from him, an earnest look on his face.

Carson took another look at his bowl of pudding. Then he looked around the mess hall. The last of the day's sun was streaming through the Atlantean stained glass windows, giving the mess hall a rosy, golden glow. A few tables over, Colonel Sheppard was setting down his tray and laughing at something Teyla had said. Over near the center of the room, Sgt. Stackhouse was gesturing broadly as he related a story to some of the crew of the _Daedalus_. In a corner, Radek and Jane Simpson were studying something on a laptop, their food going cold on their plates. And Elizabeth gave him a little nod of acknowledgement as she walked into the mess with Kate Heightmeyer.

Carson looked back across the table and saw a warm smile and an expectant look on his friend's face. Carson took another spoonful of pudding. He rolled the velvety substance around in his mouth, the flavor bursting on his tongue, before he swallowed.

"You're right, Rodney. It does taste different. Fuller and richer, somehow."

Rodney's eyes sparkled as he dipped his spoon back into his own pudding. "I knew you'd understand."

"Aye, I guess I do."

-end-


End file.
